7/14/2005 - Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NYSE:CDN) (Nasdaq:CDN) announced that Seiko Epson Corporation (“Epson”) of Japan doubled productivity in the production tapeout of a high-volume LCD controller chip using Cadence® EncounterTM RTL Compiler synthesis. A 50 percent reduction in synthesis runtime, top-down synthesis and a clean netlist with the ability to route with no detours all contributed to timing closure and a substantial improvement in time to market for Epson.

Epson is a global leader in electronics devices including semiconductors and LCD displays, as well as imaging products including printers and projectors.

“LCD Controllers are one of the most important products for Epson’s semiconductor business, and design turnaround time is the most critical factor in maintaining our leadership position in this highly competitive market,” said Kanji Aoki, manager of the IC Design Technology Department at Epson. “With its leading-edge technology, Encounter RTL Compiler helped us meet the design schedule. Our designers will continue to follow the top-down synthesis method enabled by Encounter RTL Compiler to maximize our time-to-market advantages.”

Interconnect-related parameters in nanometer designs require a new metric for synthesis results that includes performance, area, and power measured with wires. Cadence defines this as quality of silicon. Cadence Encounter RTL Compiler's global synthesis enables designers to achieve the highest QoS in less time and with less effort.

“We are excited that Encounter RTL Compiler played a significant role in enabling Epson to meet its design goals and successfully tape out a key high-volume production chip,” said Dr. Chi-Ping Hsu, corporate vice president at Cadence. “This is another proof point of how Encounter RTL Compiler enables customers like Epson to design smaller and faster chips more economically and in less time.”

About Cadence
Cadence enables global electronic-design innovation and plays an essential role in the creation of today's integrated circuits and electronics. Customers use Cadence software and hardware, methodologies, and services to design and verify advanced semiconductors, consumer electronics, networking and telecommunications equipment, and computer systems. Cadence reported 2004 revenues of approximately $1.2 billion, and has approximately 4,700 employees. The company is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with sales offices, design centres, and research facilities around the world to serve the global electronics industry. More information about the company, its products, and services is available at www.cadence.com.

Cadence and the Cadence logo are registered trademarks, and Encounter is a trademark of Cadence Design Systems, Inc.